Improvement in manufacture of hollow felted articles



N,FETERS. PHOTO-LITHOGRAPHER, WASHINGTONy D C.

ntie-t sans panel-cpan.

l CHARLES w. PALMER Aun HENRY E. PALMER, oF LY'NEAND CHARLES HoUeHfroN,

OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNORS TO CHARLES HOUGHTON.

Letters Patent No. 105,836, datedl July 26, 1870.

` IMPROVEMENT IN MANUFACTURE OIE' ROLLO-VV' FELTED ARTICLES.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of the saine.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that we, CHARLES W. PALMER and HENRY E. Brunnen, both of Lynn, in the countyy of Essex, and CHARLES HOUGHTON, of Boston, in the county of Suffolk, all in the State of llassachusetts,

haveijointly -invented anImproved Manufacture of thereunto seems necessary inorder to set forth they diiierence between that process and the product rcsulting therefrom, and our process and its resulting product.

In the manuii'tcturc of felted wool hats a former is employed, which, in shape, is a rhomb-solid, or two cones joined at their bases, on which is wound the sliver of wool as it comes from the carding-engine, the former being revolved so as to wind the wool-sliver upon itself as fast as produced, the angle of presentation of theaxis of the foi-meri being changed at in tervals, so that the layers of the sliverwill cross each other at angles.

ln our invention we proceed in the same manner with the former,7 and wind the sliver produced by a carding-engine around the formen which is made to revolve,.and also to change its angle of axial presentation, preferably intermittently. But in our invention 'we make the former -of the shape of the finished article. .to be produced, differing therefrom only in beingvof larger size, so that the finished shape of the article is obtained in the felting or hardening process, and not by the stretching, shaping, and blocking operations performed after the hardened bat is produced, as in the manufacture of hats.

It is well known that wool hats, made as described,

lose, in use, their form obtained by 'stretching and blocking,'and approximate the couc shape of the former on which the wool-sliver was wound. This difficulty our invention wholly avoids.

, Goods called seamless are made by cutting up, to any desired shape and number of pieces, a partiallyhardened bat, the edges ofwhich are brought together, and,"i)y reworking, are made to unite, and sometimes the joints so made 'are strengthened by rc-enforcng pieces or strips of felted or partially-feltcd wool, which, by working, are made to unite with the body; but joints made after a bat is hardened are always the weakestparts of the goods. In our products, resulting from our process, there are no seams or joints.

' Our invention may be described with reference to its practice in the manufacture of shoes, and the drawing, in Figure 1, illustrates the bat as it comes from the formen beforeit has been felted or hardened, and Figure 2 the same bat, when reduced to the size and form of the nished article..

The former is then .made o f ,the shape of a last, enlarged in itsl dimensions; this may be held in tle hands of an operator, andby him turned, so as to wind upon it the sliver of wool coming from a carding-engine,

.and also changed as toits angle of presentation. 'But the enlarged last is' preferably made to revolve, and to assume ancularly changed positions between two rollers of a machine similar to the machines now used for carding wool for hat-bodies, and in either of said ways any desired number of layers ofthe carded woolber will be wrapped about the last, each layer being disposed in an angular direction to its adjacent layers, and, when vsulicieut wool has been so laid upon the last, it and its wool covering are removed from the carding-engiue, a new last being used therewith to repeat the describedoperation.

If it is desired to thicken the sole ofthe shoe to be produced, then iilms of carded wool may be laid upon the sole portion of the sliver-covered formen so as to be wound and bound'between the layers, or a layer or several layers may be placed outside of those on the last. The wool is taken from the last by cutting a slit in the soft bat where the shoe is to be open, and the last is drawn out of the opening so made, and the hat is felted and hardened in the sameway as are hatbodies, and is thus reduced to the requisite size, though preserving the shape given it on the former7 which shape it does not afterward lose in wear. Soles of V leather or other suitable material and heels may be afterward secured to shoes by any suitablefastenings, andthe opening made in the shoemay be brought to the desired shape by cutting away material, and may be bound vor stitched and otherwise suitably trimmed for use.

The former for shoes may bc made like a, pair of large lasts, united in a liuc at the rear, so that the two ends of the former7 are the tbes of two shoes. The wool covered or wound on such av .former is removed therefrom aftcr it has been cut through around the foi"1nei"7 at the center of its length; thc slit is then made in each hall', which forms the opening through which the foot will enter the slice, and the parts of the wool at. the open rear are brought together and lapped, or re-cuforced by more wool if dc' sired, before thc hardening process is commenced.

This invention is not limited to the production of shoes, butembraces any articles in which the wool is deposited as slivers coming from carding-machines, the layers thereof crossingcach other ou formers of the shape of the articles to be produced, but of greater size, so that the Vform of the article is produced in thc first disposition of the wool, and its size by the con tinuous working of' it in that-shape until vfinished, the contraction resulting from the felting and hardening process.

When sufiieient wool has been deposited upon the former a cloth ha(T containimr cotton or other 'eld- 7 n o ing material, and made of the proper shape, so as not to change the shape of the hat, is placed inside of it to prevent the inner parts of the shoe or other article uniting-together during the process; it is then placed upon an iron or other table with a steam-chest underneath, the table being perforated with holes to allow the steam to penetrate the wool; it is then rubbed and worked until properly hardened or felted. t

lhe shrinking process may be continued in an ordinary fulling-lnill, the lilling being -previously withdrawn from the hollow article, or by rolling or handling, care being taken to preserve the shape. It being thus reduced to the desired' size, it is put upon an ordinary last, or, preferably, upon a hollow iron one, into which hot steam is introduced, so that it may be dried rapidly.

,'.lhe crossing ofthe ibers aid the layers of the wool.

give strength ,to any art-lele so made, and the absence of any stretching or blocking, as in forming hats, insures perlnanency of form under wear.

leather, or other material may be sewed o1' otherwise fastened upon or -to the hardened shoe. For longlegged boots for mens wear the legs are made, by the process described, on large formers of the proper shape, and, whengredueed to the right size by the fe'lting and hardeningoperations, they will be sewcd to the feet, which will commonly be of leather, iu the Sallie way that morocco legs are now united to calf and patent-leather feet.

lVe claim- The process of forming hollow felted articles, eonsistin g in depositing in obliquely-arran ged layers slivers of carded wool upon formers of the shape of the article to be produced, but of greater size, opening the deposit to permit the extraction of the former, and then feltinglor hardening such deposit substantiallyin the manner described.

Also, as a, new manufacture, hollow felted articles,

made by the above-claimed process.

CHAS. NV. PALMER. 'HENRY E. PALMER. OHS. HOUGHTON.

Witnesses:

'.T CROSBY,

FRANCIS GOULD.

In making boots, shoes, slippers, 86e., soles of felt, 

